SHORES OF THE CLYDE AND FIRTH. 
39 
far more grace in the creature's motions than in those of the 
belles of fashion of the present day with their artificial shells 
bobbing behind them to every airt of the compass. But one 
of our captives has now reached the side of the glass, and is 
now working his way upwards, thus affording us a good 
chance of viewing the construction. The white cartilaginous- 
like membrane in front is called the foot, not unlike the 
shape of the foot of the elephant, upon which is a distinctly 
marked line running down the centre from top to bottom 
dividing it in two, one-half of which moves upwards, while 
the other retains its hold, then vice versa, and so on. It will 
thus be seen that the creature is actually provided with two 
feet performing the same functions as the legs and feet of a 
human being, and may be properly enough styled a biped 
of the sea. The outside lining of the foot is mottled all 
over, generally of a dark transparent brown colour, some- 
times tinged with a light blue, giving it a beautiful appear- 
ance. Well down in front protrudes the two horns, stripped 
with the semblance and beauty of the zebra. At their base 
they present a bluff, oval appearance, which continues to 
about half the distance up, where it terminates on the out- 
side margin with a sort of knee or knuckle, on which are 
perched the eyes, then they assume a more graceful taper and 
curve to the end. Between the horns is the head or mouth, 
resembling very much in shape the bottom of the proverbial 
black bottle, the mouth being in the centre, running up and 
down, and opening towards the sides with an almost 
continual action. These creatures being graminivorous, the 
continual gnawing-like motion of the mouth, similar to that 
of the horned creatures of the land when chewing the cud, 
suggests the same notion. On closer observation, however, 
we see that the action is due to the creature's mode of 
procuring its food. 
